Why Do Lobsters Have to Cost So Much?

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Talking to Capital New York, Ed McFarland explains why a whole lobster costs $28 at Ed’s Lobster Bar. At a conference, he recently told Maine lobstermen (who were befuddled by the high price) that although they get $3.50 a pound, he has to pay as much as $7 a pound, and that’s just the beginning of it: “I’m paying two or three times more than what you get off the boat. Because the guy at the wharf has to get paid, the trucker has to get paid, the guy who delivers it to me has to get paid. And then I have costs associated with doing business. So there’s insurance, there’s payroll, there’s gas, electric, and in New York City, there’s rent and real estate tax, which is expensive.” McFarland goes through 700 pounds of lobster a day.